Two days later...

Felix was sitting on the carpet, huffing through his mouth with bloodshot eyes. Sweat was dripping down his entire body's pores akin to a fountain. However, a relieved expression was shown on Felix's face.

He was relieved because he actually remained conscious after finishing integrating with 3%, making him reach 99%!

He finally made it to the origin purity! Yet, not a single hint of excitement could be seen on his face.

Instead, he hastily brought himself back to peak form with the rejuvenation potions and started glancing around him with a paranoid expression.

Neither Felix nor Asna knew when or where the Jörmungandr was going to pop off, and this sense of the unknown was creeping him out as he kept feeling like someone was going to jump at him from behind.

Fortunately? Minutes went by, and nothing was heard inside the room besides Felix's loud heartbeats.

He was getting agitated by the second, as he always hated this f*cking feeling of the calm before the storm.

In the end, almost two hours had gone by, and Felix couldn't help but start to relax his tensed shoulders.

He didn't dare to believe it, but the Jörmungandr truly didn't show himself!

Just as he began believing that Asna might have been talking out of her ass like always, he heard her crying out loud in his mind, 'FEEELIX HEEEELP!'

"Shit! He is in my consciousness!!" Worried, Felix immediately laid down on his bed and closed his eyes.

He didn't know what was happening in his consciousness to make Asna beseech help like that, and he wasn't planning on remaining passive!

....

The moment Felix opened his eyes, he stood up above the consciousness lake and began sprinting towards the mist mansion.

Since it was quite close, Felix reached its premise in a jiffy.

He looked at its gate and noticed that Asna was leaning against the wall while peeking with her head at the inside of the mansion.

"I am here. Are you okay?!" He asked in his mind while approaching her carefully.

The moment Asna heard his voice, she dashed towards him with an aggrieved expression like she just got bullied and wanted him to seek justice.

After reaching his side, she pointed her shaky finger at her mansion and cried loudly, "The old snake showed up while I was watching my drama, scaring me to the death!" She put on a long face as she added, "He even kicked me out of my house and told me to be a good girl and stay outside until he deals with you."

Felix's eyelids kept twitching the more he heard her speak. Here he was worried that she was attacked by the Jörmungandr or something. But, it was obvious that she was overreacting after getting kicked out of her mansion.

"Asna." He looked deeply into her eyes and said in vexation, "My emotions are truly wasted on you."

Not waiting for her response, he took a deep breath and started walking towards the mansion. He didn't dare to keep the Jörmungandr waiting for long.

Though he felt that his nerves, which he expected would be agitated with each step he took, were actually getting pacified and at ease.

He knew that something was going on for him to act like this, as he understood himself more than anymore. Being calm and collected in such a nerve-wracking moment was absolutely impossible for him.

He was still far from reaching that level of emotional control.

Before long, Felix made it into the wide-open gate of the mansion.

The moment he entered, his eyes landed on the Jörmungandr in his human form, sitting on a purplish throne with his head resting on his knuckles. His expression was indifferent and somewhat sleazy.

Visional-wise, he appeared the same as Felix saw in the memories. However, seeing him for real hit Felix a hundred times harder than just seeing a reflection in the lake.

He didn't know why, but he suddenly had feelings of kneeling and kowtowing before his gracefulness and pronounced pride.

First, the feeling started soft, like a whisper that comes and goes, but as seconds went by, the feeling intensified to the point, Felix started to believe that worshiping this godly creation was the most natural set of action do.

His knees started to bend on their own, making his dazed expression wrap and twist in resistance.

'Asna! What's happening to me?! Is he controlling my will or something?'

Agitated and somewhat enraged, He fired off two questions in his mind while trying his best to endure the inborn feeling that was forcing him to kneel before the Jörmungandr.

'He is doing nothing to you.' She sighed while peeking at the interaction further away, 'Your own body is showing the necessary reaction before one of the beings at the top of the universe's social pyramid. Sorry! I forgot to mention it since you felt the same towards me.'

'How to stop it?! I don't want to f*cking kneel.' Infuriated, he shouted in his mind with veins throbbing down his temples.

'You can leave the consciousness lake or close your eyes. Besides those two options, there is nothing much you can do.' She smiled bitterly, 'No one can defy the hidden hierarchy in the universe.'

Felix was extremely indignant about this.

Why did he need to kneel just because he was born a human? Why did he need to go through this shit just because his rank on the hierarchy was at the bottom?

Unfortunately, his disgruntlement and discontentment were doing nothing to stop his trembling knees from inching closer and closer to the ground.

Felix felt that resisting his thoughts only wasn't enough to stop himself from kneeling. Thus, he clenched them with his hands tightly and started pulling in the other direction.

This resulted in Felix having a weird posture that should have made it easier to lose his balance and fall in any direction. Yet, his feet were literally glued to the ground, not moving even an inch!

Regardless, Felix kept pulling and pulling...The result? Nothing changed. His knees were adamant about touching the ground.

'Like hell, I will let that happen!' 

Left with no choice, Felix created a misty butcher knife with a deranged expression and cleaved both of his legs in one single sweep, showing not a single hint of hesitation or fear!

Thud!

Without support, Felix lost his balance and fell backward on his side. Blood was gushing out of his wounds akin to a dam being discharged!

Uncaring about the puddle of blood beneath him and the waves of pain that had assaulted his being, Felix merely tightened his lips while giving the Jörmungandr a defying gaze!

Kneel? I would rather cut my four limbs before that happens!

"That's my Felix!" Asna said in delight.

She didn't expect Felix's resolve to keep his dignity at the border of insanity to cut his own legs!

She knew that in this space, everything could be felt just like in real life. Thus, the pain he was experiencing was off the roof!

Yet, Felix wasn't letting a single wince. He just kept gazing at the Jörmungandr without closing his eyes for even a split second. Though he cleaved his legs, the feeling of worship was still intensifying without stop.

He knew that closing his eyes was going to either reduce the feeling or remove it entirely. But Felix wasn't a retard to do so!

After all, on what ground would he be talking to the Jörmungandr if he was doing so with his eyes closed?

How could he be giving him promises with his eyes closed? How could the Jörmungandr even believe in him when he couldn't even look at him straight?

Thus, Felix could neither Kneel nor close his eyes. Let's not mention running away by exiting the consciousness.

There was only one way forward, and that was to keep resisting and resisting until the Jörmungandr approved of him!

Thankfully, Felix didn't need to continue his resistance as the inborn feeling started withdrawing slowly on its own.

Yet, he didn't feel thankful or relieved but actually peeved that he needed to fight his own body like he was hypnotized.

The fact that the Jörmungandr didn't actually do anything for it to happen pissed him off even more!

"Þú eru indignant á mik?" The Jörmungandr asked indifferently.

'Asna, translate!'

Felix already knew that the Jörmungandr was going to speak in his own language.

After all, for a proud being like him, there was no way he would bother to learn the common universal language for Felix's sake.

That's just preposterous.

'He asked, are you indignant at me?' Asna delivered.

Felix snapped his finger, creating two new misty legs. He stood up with difficulty initially, but soon he was up again, with his back straighter than ever.

He raised his head high up and replied, "No!"

"Hví?" The Jörmungandr asked.

'Why?' Asna translated.

"If I am going to be indignant at someone, the universe would be the first one then me!" Felix tightened his hands while gazing at them, "It was the one who created this cursed hierarchy and put me at the bottom of it. I can't be going and blaming everyone on top of me in the hierarchy. am blaming myself for being weak enough not to change it."

He suddenly smiled as he relaxed his fists, "So? I will either break down it or topple over it."

His casual way of saying so couldn't hide the determination and the hint of madness in his eyes.

Felix never wanted to go through this shitty experience again with anyone!

Neither Asna nor the Jörmungandr could comprehend the feeling of humiliation that was burning his chest right now.

It might appear astonishing to some that he fought the feeling of worship and kept his integrity intact, but Felix only felt like he was a clown before those two.

A clown who was forced to dance against his will!

"You have earned my attention." The Jörmungandr smiled faintly, speaking for the first time with the common universal language. His accent was actually more fluent and understandable than Felix's!

It was evident that the Jörmungandr already knew the language, and he deemed Felix as unworthy to make him facilitate the communication between them. However, after Felix's demonstration, the Jörmungandr slightly changed his opinion of him.

Felix didn't want to ruin this tiny bit of favor by being long-winded or flattering the Jörmungandr.

For a straightforward being like him, getting straight to the point was always a bonus.

Thus, he immediately bowed his head respectfully by his own WILL, and said, "I am willing to fight tooth and nail to obtain the best vessel for your revival." He promised, "It doesn't matter if it is a tier 6 or tier 7 serpent beast. I will get it for you at any cost!"

Felix understood that the Jörmungandr was smart enough to figure out what he was implying without giving him the context.

Just as he assumed, the Jörmungandr did knew what he was talking about, but his response was nothing short but shocking!

"Who told you that I want to revive in the first place?" The Jörmungandr asked with an amused expression.